The problem with this, though, is that one is left wondering about the motives of the fictional editor. Each time the characters find something nasty, the viewer is made to want the editor to cut soon to the next scene, and the fact that he doesn't adds to the sense of being trapped, as the characters are. It is good in that it does much to heighten the tension, with many key moments lasting just a little too long for comfort.
One of the great strengths and weaknesses of the film is the editing. Some of it is very quiet and must be listened for, some is technical jargon, which is left realisticly unexplained. Similarly, no compromise is made with the dialogue. The jerky, badly-framed camerawork is hard on the eye and stomach, but I applaud the director for its uncompromising use. I put this down to my having been tense for a hour, he put it down more to motion sickness. My friend and I, after seeing it, both felt a little sick. By the time they are thoroughly lost, the audience shares the despair. Rather than simply having a character say "We're lost!", we see many scenes which show the trio getting more and more hopelessly lost, and more annoyed with each other for this. The slow route into hysteria is well documented. The well-cast actors are presumably playing pretty-much themselves, and are convincingly naturalistic, and neither too likeable or too dislikeable. The acting and script are both excellent. The film creates its own excuse to be cheap. They cannot carry tripods, steadicams, dollies, large lighting rigs, or the like, so everything we see is lit either by raw daylight, or by a single light fixed to the camera, which illuminates just what is within a few feet of the lens. Three people hike into the woods for a few days to shoot a documentary, with borrowed equipment, and are in the habit of videoing everything for the hell of it. The film makers managed to set up a rationale for why the film is so cheaply made. Also, it gets the audience into the habit of viewing the film's format: alternating between black and white (very grainy and poorly focussed) film, and the washed out colours of shaky pixilated video. It tells the audience everything it needs to know about the characters and situation, and nothing more. In fact, it is very deft, and very efficient at what it does. The first section of the film appears at first to be amateurish and slow.
I would be glad of its success if only for that reason. is seeing something else that a cinema can be: a place where people can share an intimate experience created by a few people on a tight budget. More importantly, it does not have what feature films have these days: star actors, special effects, exotic locations, explosions. For a start, it is not feature length, also, it is not shot on film.
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